Celia Cruz (Ursula Hilaria Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso) (October 21, 1925 - July 16, 2003) was a Cuban salsa singer who spent most of her career living and working in the United States. Cruz was one of the most successful Cuban performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name and has earned the moniker of the "Queen of Salsa". Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best-known and most influential female figure in the history of Afro-Cuban music." (1)